Demand for NGOs amid funding crisis

ABH is an acronym as well-known in KwaZulu-Natal as ANC or IFP, but for very different reasons.

For more than 100 years the aged, frail, physically and mentally challenged, children and victims of domestic violence have found help at the doors of the Aryan Benevolent Home. The home currently helps more than 600 people at 10 facilities in KZN and Gauteng, and provides meals and 24-hour help.

But these programmes and, crucially, their beneficiaries, are all at risk as the ABH finds itself in dire financial straits which require urgent, significant assistance.

Covid, during which the ABH played its part, curtailed much of its fund-raising activities, and it has struggled to meet pre-Covid levels.

However, the plight of the ABH is a symptom of a much wider problem affecting non-governmental organisations around the country: that of increasing demand for their services while funding decreases.

Last year it was reported that Western Cape-based NGOs like Rape Crisis were in danger of closing because of funding issues, and Gauteng's budget for non-profit funding in 2024/25 is R223 million less than for 2023/24.

The government should decide how it will support in particular NGOs providing social services. It should decide on the services it requires, and then develop policy, including funding measures to support NGOs in providing these services at rates that are sustainable.

It is no secret that there are thousands of NGOs around the country providing vital services to communities without getting any recognition. Often these are services which should be provided by the government, and they do it more cheaply and efficiently than government departments do.

In addition, they also provide employment, even if it's not very well-paid.

That they succeed in their endeavours is usually in spite of the government, not because of it.

They deserve better than having to beg to survive.